Tuesday, March 29, 2011

As I sorted through the few pictures I captured of the actual day it made me sad that I really didn't get that many. I then thought about the fact that 1. I was a bridesmaid 2. I'm 9 months pregnant 3. My husband officiated the wedding and 4.I was chasing around my two year old daughter. So while I'm sad I didn't capture the day in pictures I am thankful I didn't go into labor or tuck my dress into my panties.
At one point during the reception I looked at my daughter and saw she wasn't wearing the cute pink leggings I could have sworn she had on earlier in the day....I lifted up the back of her dress to find a little baby booty looking back at me....so like I said....I'm thankful we all survived and enjoyed ourselves.

The wedding...oh the wedding! When the Lord made this women he wanted the world to understand the definition of thoughtful details. Every inch of this wedding had her loving touch on it. She even made sure that if someone had given her a special vase that it was at the table they sat at. When we as bridesmaids walked down the aisle a recording was played of a letter she wrote to each of us telling us what we meant to her. I was a big emotional pregnant mess down the aisle and for a good portion of the ceremony. Even though the temps were in the upper 90's the bride was calm and collected and didn't let a thing get to her. I had been praying this over her for some time so I was very blessed by the feel of the day. Timeless elegance is what she captured. I love how she stayed real to who she is.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

So it seems as though my crowning achievement is the alphabet wall and the straight frames. I have no secret other than I used one of these. It really was a breeze. I think I was dreading this project more than the task of making the bedding but it ended up only taking around 1-2 hours to map out and complete. Once it was done it completely changed the feel of the room for me.

I got the flashcards from Ink Tree Press on etsy. When they arrived in the mail I'm pretty sure I did a happy dance. I had bought a few different sets from other places only to be disappointed in style and quality but the Woodland Alphabet ended up fitting the theme of the room perfectly and are superior in quality.

Frames- They are from the dollar store. I knew I needed something cheap if I was going to need 27 frames ( I added the "&" symbol so I could have three rows of nine) so I went to the dollar store and bought out their 8X10 frames and spray painted them the cream I used on the crib and dresser. I then bought a booklet of watercolor paper to use as matting. I cut out a template and used it to cut matting for each frame. I did this because I knew I couldn't afford custom matting for each frame.

Crib and Dresser are both from the mission.

The fabric was purchased in Houston at High Fashion Fabrics. I can't locate it on the website but the receipt states that it is ORSA "Moonstone."

The curtains are the Lenda from Ikea. I cut off the tab tops and topped it with some extra fabric I had leftover from the bedding.

Paint color is a custom mix from Sherwin Williams that they named "Baby Blue Blue."

The Glider is a Dutailier that I scored on Craigslist for a heck of a deal. Some sweet friends picked it up for me so I wouldn't miss out on it and brought it close to my home. It's such a comfortable chair. My MIL will be thankful when she's here rocking that baby for hours on end.

The Rug is an Avery rug from Pottery Barn. I found this at the Pottery Barn outlet in San Marcos a while back and got it for a crazy good price.

All the little details that aren't listed are most likely from yard sales and thrift stores. I can promise you that this room was done on a very tight budget. It doesn't always take much money to pull things together...just time and work.

One tip I can share with you that I learned in the process of planning a boy nursery is that home interior fabric seems to be the way to go. Home interior fabric is gender neutral because it tends to be in the common area of a home so you will have options that you might be limited to in cotton fabrics. Other than that I just pulled things together as I found them...one piece at a time...one yard sale at a time.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Well it's finally finished and I love it! I really thought I was going to complete it a long time ago but I kinda got in a rut. Last Tuesday I had a false alarm for early labor and that sent Wednesday and Thursday into a super productive get out of the rut and finish the room kinda days. I still have a few unfinished details but I'm really not concerned with them right now...if it happens great..if not life goes on. I do plan on filling the embroidery hoop with his name, birth weight and date once he arrives. Pictures should fill those frames and scripture versus throughout the room. For now it feels complete to me...all it needs is a sweet little baby in there.

I will do a post tomorrow on all the details, if there is anything specific you want to know about please let me know and I will do my best to include it in the post.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Well we have enjoyed our Spring Break thoroughly and hope you did too. This was the first break we have had in a while that didn't involve traveling. It was such a blessing to be at home with each other. I loved every single day.

Matt did do his manly nesting the entire week and that made this mama happy. We spent a lot of time outside playing, working in the flower beds and getting the garden ready. We also spent some time inside getting things ready for this little baby boy. We had a false alarm for his arrival on Tuesday and that pretty much kicked us into high gear finishing up all the little projects we had put off.

The nursery is finished! The clothes are washed and put away AND his bag is packed. It feels so good to put all that down in writing or typing rather. Pictures of the nursery will make their debut this week.

Friday, March 18, 2011

So remember when I said my eye was twitching? Well, I went to an eye doctor and found out that this pregnancy has caused me to go blind in my right eye....okay not totally blind but bad enough that my left eye was overworked to the point that it was having spasms.

I also found out that my eyeball is not shaped for a typical contact lens and therefore glasses shall be the only solution for this twitchy eye girl.

As I began my search for the right pair of glasses I wondered what it said about my sense of style that I kept gravitating towards Phat Baby and The Randy Jackson Collection. Anyways, I found a few that I like...what do ya think?

{1}

{2}

{3}

Oh...I also wanted to share with you that my necklace was made using this tutorial. It was fun and easy!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I love pillows...like really love them! I knew a happy pillow was just one of the things I needed in the nursery to help it feel more personalized and what better way to personalize something than by adding an initial to it.

I have already met my budget for the nursery so I knew I was going to have to get creative.....insert homemade monogramming/embroidery.

When I first started this I was just hoping it would turn out looking decent, once it was finished and in the room I loved the way it looked sitting on my glider...so much so that I want to make some for our bedroom.

This is a super easy project with no sewing skills required. Sometimes I think people see a needle and yarn and think they can't do it. I promise, if you can follow a straight line and stick a needle in and out then you've got this.

Supplies:Cotton Embroidery FlossErasable sewing pen
Letter template ( I used one previously cut from a cricut but you could easily print and cut on regular paper.)
Pillow or fabric you plan to use to make a pillow.
Medium size sewing needle

Step 1
Center the letter on your pillow and trace it with the erasable pen.

Step 2
Cut a piece of the floss about 1 ft to start off with. Because you will loop this through the needle it will end being about 6 inches. You don't want your floss to be too long.

Step 3
You will need to separate half of the floss. When you move the fibers you will see there are 6 strands in one floss.
You will only need 3 strands.
Take three strands and pull them apart. Reserve the other 3 strands for later use.

Step 4
Combine your 3 strands together so that it fits through the needle.

Step 5
Pull the strands half-way through the needle to join the end.

Step 6
Tie the two ends together. This will create a total of 6 strands once you have threaded correctly.

Step 7
Starting in the back of your fabric/pillow, push your needle up through the line and follow your letter. You will weave in and out, in and out until you run out of floss (embroidery thread).

Step 8
This is the back of the fabric. Once you have run out of floss you will tie it off in the back and re-thread your needle and continue.

Step 9

Once you have threaded your letter and no longer need the blue marker as a reference, take a wet towel and blot the blue marking. It should completely disappear.